The present invention relates to invalid care, and more particularly to a patient hoist for facilitating movement to and from a bed, and for use in therapeutic exercises.
Many conventional patient lifts and exercise devices of the prior art have a frame that can be located in a hospital room or similar environment, one form of the frame having a rectangular cage configuration, with or without wheels, for enclosing a patient's bed or a larger portion of the room, a hoist being movable relative to the frame for lifting and transporting the patient. In another form of the frame, a cantilevered boom is supported for extending over the bed from one side or end thereof, a base portion of the frame being extendable beneath the bed. Such lifts are also used in home and hospice patient care.
A number of problems are associated with patient lifts of the prior art. For example, access to the patient is partially blocked by the frame, and movement of the patient is restricted due to interference by the bed and/or other room furniture with movement of the frame or because a stationary frame of the hoist covers only part of the room. Also, the hoist is subject to lateral instability that contributes to patient anxiety and aversion to use of the device. In the case of the cage-type frames, bracing for stiffening the frame further interferes with access to and movement of the patient, as well as with the placement of furniture within the room.
A further form of the patient lift frame of the prior art is supported by being fastened directly to ceiling and/or wall structure of the room. Unfortunately, significantly increased costs are associated with fastening the frame to structure of the room. Also, the direct mounting is objectionable in that the appearance of the room is adversely affected in the event that the lift is subsequently removed, particularly from a private residence.
Thus there is a need for a patient lift that provides free patient access and freedom of movement substantially throughout a room where it is used, while being structurally stable, without interfering with furniture placement or other activity within the room.